Alfheimr Renaissance

Borgarsandr, day 5

Day off & MP3

Rain. Yay for Swedish summer. Either 15C and rain, clouds and wind, or 30C and sunshine and dry. Sometimes it's a nice day in between. Once a long, snowy winter; another year with barely a single day with minus or snow. Or it is an all-gray sky where the sun can't be detected, even temperatures hovering just above freezing and only light rain for weeks with maybe only a handful of sunshine hours in a month. There's a basis for the fact that Scandinavians often talk about the weather because it varies so much, and from place to place over short distances, especially compared to many other countries.

Rain is smattering against the window and I'm just tired of everything. I would just like to stay inside today, read, watch old movies or TV series, play something slow and long like OpenTTD or 'Heroes of might and magic', all which I technically can do, but it's a bad idea.

Cuddling with Iselin...

...maybe a little more than cuddling.

Iselin's free day.

I really don't trust Kari. Yesterday, I discreetly told everyone to not leave Kari alone in the house or give her free access to my room. She's pretty much guaranteed to report everything to the King. She may be the nice person she seems, but there is something iffy with her, and even if she's just as she seems, she might still report everything to the King, so I can't let her find out anything valuable at all. Well; valuable that I'm not planning on freely giving away like positional number system.

It wouldn't surprise me if she's really some type of courtesan spy, and some form of honey trap to bind me in some kind of legal trouble or other political ploy with sharp hooks, perhaps against the King. What woman of rank - especially nobility - would quickly say she has no property? No family. Why isn't it a male teacher? Why is she so well educated and quickly accessible? Feels iffy.

Had the King been interested in protecting her, the guards would have stayed, and a woman like her shouldn't have been left with an unknown man like this. Nor does she seem to be the King's own courtesan. Why would the King keep a woman like her available with short notice if she has no purpose? Something pretty to look at? She's not normally a teacher. Sure, there's a chance that the King is trying to lure me to him with honey and by taking away the guards subtly mean: "Have lots of sex with Kari until neither you nor she can walk."

But she doesn't seem as seductive as what I would expect if that where true, and guards could still have been here as a sign of her worth. Although, that may be true, but that she thinks I'm below her dignity to have sex with, because I have to seem like an uneducated clumsy older foreigner to her. Perhaps I was considered a sex symbol in southern Norway, but here in the capital's aristocratic circles, the song may be different, and it wouldn't be entirely wrong to avoid the complication of powerful noble women in the future. I won't deny that Kari is a damn impressive and charming woman I could imagine going to bed with, but I would rather spend time with Iselin - or Alith - instead of having to think about whether Kari's forced or not, and live with the consequences that she is a honey trap. So it's easier and safer to say 'no'. Not that I suffer from a lack of bed company, since I came here I hardly lived in celibacy without female company for several years.

I should get out of bed and start working, but I really don't feel like it. How my parents are doing? And my sisters? There's a chance that time here move slower than at home. There's also too much that's the same, so it can't be completely random and completely separated history. Say that, for example, year 600 or so was the same, but 1400 years have passed since then for the earth and an estimated 400-500 years here. It's factor 3-4. In that case, I've now been missing up on Hardangervidda for two months. Any hope that I would be alive is gone. If they even could search properly. Who knows what chaos and misery such a huge solar storm could have caused on electrical systems around the world? The West World can look like some Sci-Fi series, and that is not a good thing. Societies quickly crumble when power goes out, because we are so dependent on it, and it's just days for big cities. Many people also get irrational panic because they are never prepared for anything outside of everyday life. Longer power outage for storms are bad enough, so I can only imagine a pandemic or war.

But it doesn't help to think about it. I have to accept that I will never return to Midgård, but my only chance to even have a chance to return, is to try to get in touch with more educated people, and more cultures. And for that the Academy will be useful. A place that attracts this knowledge and people. Just wandering around the world and asking funny questions feels too dangerous, and too difficult, although it would probably be faster. But I really don't want to spend my life travelling around in this era. So I rather build as comfortable, safe and technologically advanced place as I can. If I can help make life here better and easier, I want to. There's also the question of money and food.

I need to decide what I will name the Academy, something more is needed than just 'The Academy'. I could name it Academy Midgård, in order to spread hints about where any humans who come here can turn to. But how many humans will even understand they're in Old Norse mythology and even know what Midgård is? It's more likely that they think 'The Lord of the Rings' or similar. Maybe I should name the Academy something cool, but the name will hopefully live on as long as the Academy does, so I need a more neutral name. The classical option would be to name the school according to a certain direction, like the teachings of Plato, or the person who sponsored its founder, or its founder. Academy Robert or Academy Arnesson just sounds so silly and ego tripped.

It annoys me that my family will just have to live with me just disappearing without a trace. Me, who always have a backup plan and try to be prepared. They will probably doubt 'natural' reasons, and would probably have been better off if it had been a weird accident, because then they could at least have know what happened. A fate to accept. Not fun, but the uncertainty is gone. At least the rent will be paid for the rest of the year. But to eventually sort out all my stuff and clutter? Sorry? Although it can be interesting auctions on the net. I've go so much weird technological stuff, which few will have a clue about the value of or consider it worth it. I will probably be many trips to the recycling center. Really a pity I didn't bring a Night vision monocular or Night vision adapter lens for the camera as on a couple of other hikes, but they take place and weigh so I didn't bring them, since it's not really night on Hardangervidda anyway in the middle of summer, and I could take a long shutter time photo in color with full image quality. Or a thermal camera. Damn, I should have brought a quadcopter kit on the hike, so very valuable parts. But that too weigh and is that issue with charging the batteries after use.

Aeh, fuck it!

I need a day off.

Ciara gently knocks on the door and inform me that breakfast is ready, and asks if I want to eat in the room or with the others. I chose the room, so soon she comes in and puts the food on the table. I give her a kiss on the cheek and say thank you, and her smile makes my day a little better. I just ask Ciara to come back and get it in a while. Ciara seems to switch between a few different emotional states, and I can't really get a fix on her. Although she does seem genuinely concerned and worried about me. I just say I'm a little unmotivated and feel lazy today. So just like Iselin, I'll take a day off. I could cuddle with Ciara, but just cuddle, and I don't know if she would take me asking badly no matter what she said.

I just want stay in my shorts, a t-shirt and do nothing. Heh, maybe I should enjoy myself and mess with them a little, by putting on that black t-shirt... How Kari will react? It looks to be excellent quality and as a consequence expensive. Okay, that decides it. If someone methodically has arranged a game board in their favour, and tries to force you to play, you can happen to kick it.

As I eat, my melancholy diminishes.

It's entertaining to see their reactions, and I can't hold back from smiling. Really black t-shirt and shorts, with white/blue/gray print and the text 'Don't follow me! I'm crazy and lost! ' both front and rear, but the back has a picture of a snowboarder going down a steep snow covered mountain. They don't even see my back print when I come out, only the front, but text on clothes is unknown here, and its not sewn or embroidered. I sit down and declare I will take this day off, and there's a good chance nothing important will be done today; I need to mentally relax and do something silly. I apologize to Kari that the first day of lectures will be ruined. Since it's only about half a kilometer to the beach, I will go and swim a bit.

"But it's raining..." I hear Alith say in a questioning tone. Like; why would anyone want to do that?

"Yep, but it's not really cold, the water will be warm and I'll still get wet and clothes dry. So, which of you two wants to come along?"

Alith grins at Bodil who just sighs and dejectedly looks at her clothes while she softly say; "They'll take so long to dry." But she takes a breath, and accept it just needs to be done, as Bodil knows that someone must come along. "I'll get the hood and coat."

"You don't have anything that dries quickly?"

Bodil just shakes her head. Isn't there a type of oil coat or water proof fabric here? As far as I know, wool should be good against light rain. I can't just ask it openly as Kari is sitting in front of me. Oh well, I have a solution, but again I would rather not show it, but it's quite harmless as it just is an unknown material and style. Same as my clothes.

"No worries Bodil, I have something you can borrow that will protect you quite well. Iselin and Ciara, can you pour me a hot bath until I come back? Bodil, when are you ready?"

Bodil looks up in surprise but says she is ready now, and it becomes entertainingly quiet behind me when they see the back print on the t-shirt as I go into the bedroom. I pick up my rain poncho for hikes etc, which is a US woodland camouflage model, and I prepare my gray micro fiber bath towel, but I leave it just inside the door of my room. I'm gonna be soaking wet when I get back and linen towels is something I have to buy. I check so Bodil doesn't have any sharp points etc that can get stuck or make holes in the poncho - it's a bit worn but it has no holes and doesn't need to get it. Then I unfold the poncho, hang it over her and help her tie it around her waist. Their faces are glorious. Partly the design, partly the material and partly the print. Welcome to the world of military gear and camouflage. They all stand and just gently feel the ripstop material and try to find the joints in the colour of the camouflage pattern.

I have to make an effort to not giggle. An Elvish Viking Shieldmaiden with a spear, shield, and an axe and knife at the waist. In a Woodland Ripstop poncho. I can almost hear the whine about that in some contexts in modern times, which only makes it more fun. So absurd. I quickly throw off my t-shirt and pull on a regular shirt and just happily asks Bodil if she's ready, to which she absently nods.

I grab the compact camera and open the door with Bodil coming behind me. She stops for a while just outside the door, to see how the rain just flows off the poncho after the drops have hit it, and the door is quite crowded. Bodil's quiet as she accompanies me, as I walk barefoot and whistling and humming with light dance steps and occasionally pretending to play a piano, through the wet grass and along the slightly muddy path down to the sea. Sirenia's 'Seven sirens and a Silver tear' works fine in rain.

The camera takes a nice picture from the water where Bodil stands on a cliff and looks out over the area. It's tragic I don't have access to a color printer here, and it's only a matter of time until these pictures are lost in time. I pick up a couple of mussel shells and a couple of rocks before we leave the beach a short while later.

"Sir, this is a fantastic garment. I'm completely dry, and if I were to crouch down among some branches or bushes I would be very difficult to see from a distance. At the same time I can fight in it reasonably well because it is so loose and thin, and I also hear well even with the hood up. It even becomes very small and light when it is folded."

"It is more useful than that. You can carry a small backpack which is then also protected. Also look at the shape, the snaps and the tied lines at the ends. Stretched out, it will be longer than you, so it can be hung between two low tree branches or stretch over two standing sticks, to make a small roof and you get a sleeping area that's rain protected, hidden and with some wind protection. If the cover follow the terrain and you choose the spot well, it will be difficult to detect even in open country. It's also possible to snap several together at the edges for a larger cover. Since it is completely water proof, you can also make a small bundle and put things in it that won't get soaked if you swim or wade across a river."

While we walk back through the rain up to the farm in silence, I'm wondering if I can make something useful from mussels. Too bad there are not as nice as New Zealand Pāua, but those are special for that region. Still not really useful though, except in art. Is there any use of a shell that isn't jewellery or art?

"Bodil, have you ever seen pearls? Usually small round gemstones in white with a nice special shimmering surface, sometimes in colors, but most commonly white and often beads in a row as jewellery?"

"I have seen a piece of jewellery like that. We meet a seller in town that had a necklace of such beads. It was very beautiful and valuable."

"Do you know where pearls come from?", as expected, Bodil shakes her head, so I hold up the shell.

"There are certain types of mussels like this that make them. In Midgård they are called pearl oysters. A small parasite, pest or grain of sand enters the oyster shell, and to protect itself, the oyster forms a layer of pearl around it - that's what this surface right here on the inside is called - and gradually layer upon layer is added, and it becomes a nice little pearl when it's finished, but it takes several years. Fishermen pick up the oyster, open it and if there is a pearl, they take it out. Isn't it fascinating that a natural process where the oyster just tries to protect itself and isolate what irritates, causes it to form something as beautiful as a pearl? The pearls that are new and sold in 10 years or so, don't exist in the world today. So pearls differs from ordinary gemstones or metals when it comes to jewellery, because the pearl grows in an oyster, and doesn't lie in the ground waiting to be discovered."

I throw the shell to her as we walk into the longhouse garden, and in the bathroom I wash off the sea water, get clean and dry and change into normal clothes. Ciara hangs up the towel and the wet clothes, as well as the poncho.

Bodil enthusiastically tells Alith how amazing the 'poncho' was, even though everyone could see that she was completely dry except for her feet when they came back, while Sir was completely drenched, but didn't seem to care at all. How well it also protected from the wind, follows the body and dries in no time at all. It doesn't absorb water, it just falls off.

Bodil explain about all its usage and they both realise that Sir's obviously done such things which surprises them both. Who has he fought against and in what way? Why was it so important to not be seen? Alith stood with the others and looked after them as they left, and the poncho made Bodil difficult to see. They've seen his green backpack, funny green hat and the sturdy funny boots, and it hits that Sir's prepared to disappear into nature and manage there regardless of the weather and be able to hide, and they know he came across the high mountains inland. Was he afraid that the Elves would chase him? Why didn't he bring a weapon?

But there is no doubt how practical such a poncho can be when you're on guard duty outside in the fall or spring. Or how good it would be on a raid with many of these, or out on a ship. Dry and protected from wind, and thus warm. Nobody likes to be wet, cold and miserable, and if the weather is too hard, wool can't withstand it, even if it keeps its wearer decently warm even wet. It can be so heavy and strenuous to move in, and take so long to dry. Ponchos would make it harder to be spotted, and also lighten the load. The material and the color are just another proof of how primitive they are compared to Midgård, as Sir expected them to have better clothes for any weather. It's like someone painted the fabric, but it's so perfectly done that there are no mistakes or variations at all.

All Sir's Midgård things are perfectly done.

But when Bodil tells about where those white pearls come from, Alith doesn't believe her. That just sounds like a wild story and she's trying to deceives Alith, but Bodil just answers;

"Has Sir ever lied to us? Why would he start with something so unimportant?"

I just take it easy and talk to them a little, think a little about unimportant things, or lie on the bed and listen to the MP3 player.

Iselin asks if she can join me after dinner, which she of course can and I honestly hoped for, but when she sees the MP3 player she wonders. So I ask if she wants to hear more music from my world. I warn her that there will be much more variety and music like she never even guessed exists, but she really want to hear. My desire to always be prepared and have a backup pays off again, when I plug in the Y splitter and she gets her own pair of ear buds, both from the tablet case. We just lie next to each other in the slightly cramped bed, and listen to music.

Iselin is so damn adorable when she smiling cuddles up towards me and rests her head on my chest and hugs me, as I have my left arm around her and we listens to music no one has ever heard in this world. I quickly jump to next when I hear the start of a song I think will be too much for her, but that annoys Iselin and she wants to listen to them all. Some seem to shock her, others I can feel she seems to like. She likes something with a good beat, but Epica, Within Temptation and Floor Jansen seem to have gotten a fan they probably didn't expect. But how many are prepared for 'Ghost Love Score'? I didn't expect C64/Nintendo remixes would be something she appreciates, but I guess its funny but simple sounds make it receptive.

'Ich will' is the first German phrase she learns and I explain the text to her while we listen to it three times. My heart completely melts when she makes cute little 'ooah' in time with Attack's 'Ooa hela natten'. She doesn't seem to understand how loud she actually does it because the ear buds muffle the ambient noise. We move on after hearing it twice. Iselin hugs me more as she smiles and gets happier. I wish I could take Iselin from here to my world and show her all the wonders we have, and I realise that I'm really in love with her. We stop listening to music after we've listened to Magnus Uggla's 'Ska vi gå hem till dig (Shall we go home to you)' for the second time. Iselin's intense green eyes just stared at me and with an 'Ich will' from her.... we go home to me.